Nureddin Sabir, Editor, Redress Information & Analysis, writes:

Turkey’s Islamist and Ottoman revivalist President Recep Erdogan has learned from the lawless State of Israel that in world politics it is guns that count, not resolutions issued by international organisations or platitudinous statements of states. 

So, while Egypt’s dithering American client, Abd-al-Fattah al-Sisi, and his sycophantic media are still indulging in an orgy of self-congratulations over Sisi’s stillborn peace initiative for Libya, Erdogan continues on his inexorable path to rob Libya of what remains of its wealth and in all probability turn it into a staging post for attacks by the Muslim Brotherhood terrorists against Egypt itself – the ultimate target of his Libyan adventure.

Since Sisi’s announcement of his initiative to end the conflict between the elected Libyan government and the Turkish-sponsored, Muslim Brotherhood- and Al-Qaeda-backed “Government of National Accord“ (GNA) – an initiative that is still being loudly celebrated by the Egyptian media – Turkey has been busy arming the GNA’s Islamist and organised crime militias.

Just four days after the promulgation of Sisi’s initiative – the Cairo Declaration – Turkey dispatched a frigate to the Libyan capital Tripoli, which is occupied by the GNA’s Islamist and crime syndicate militias. Its mission was described by a Turkish source as to assist the GNA militias preparing to attack the coastal town of Sirt, which is under the control of the Libyan National Army, the elected government’s armed force.

Moreover, today multiple sources have reported that Turkey has established a military air bridge to the areas occupied by the GNA’s militias (see this for example), indicating, as one commentator pointed out, that Turkey is in Libya for the long haul – unless it is pushed out by force of arms. To date, this has seen Turkish C-130 heavy transport planes make 22 flights to the occupied parts of Libya in as many days.

Turkey’s neo-Ottoman Erdogan clearly understands that it is deeds, not words, that count. Sadly for Libyans and Egyptians, this message has still not got through to Egypt’s President Sisi. If he persists in celebrating his stillborn initiative while remaining supine in the face of Turkish aggression, both he and the Egyptian people will pay the price of his inertness.

This article first appeared in Dateline Libya, a Redress Information & Analysis page dedicated to the conflict in Libya.